Webinar: How Short Line Railroads Can Get Started with ArcGIS
On August 29th, 2024 we at Esri hosted a webinar focused on how Short Line railroads can get started, and get productive, with ArcGIS. We discussed how to start building your GIS database using data published by the ArcGIS Living Atlas and by the US Dept of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) mapping portal.
Here is a link to the recorded video of that webinar in case you weren't able to attend:
https://mediaspace.esri.com/media/t/1_9w18zlsc/238782693
First, we introduced ArcGIS Online, which is Esri's SaaS platform for building a mapping system of record completely online. Then we explored some resources for finding and using datasets shared on various data portals, like the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, as well as the FRA's ArcGIS-based "Hub" web site.
Once we found a nice set of map layers to start with, like track lines, switch nodes, and rail crossings, we went through a few live demos of using field apps to collect milepost locations to create a milepost layer, do some field inspections of rail crossings to validate or update the FRA data, as well as use web maps back in the office and in the field to assign, manage, and complete field work tasks.
Not only are there apps for office workers and field workers, automatically keeping everything in sync, but ArcGIS Online also includes ArcGIS Dashboards, which is a code-free way to design highly customized web app dashboards, so that management and the rest of the organization can have visibility into field work that is going on. For example, in this case, the tie-down of crossing arms in preparation for a storm, assigning work tasks for tying them down, and then putting them back into operation again, as well as keeping track of damaged crossing arms that need immediate repair.
At the end of the webinar, we hosted a live Q&A with the attendees. I would like to include those questions and answers below, especially to cover the ones that we didn't have time to discuss.
Questions:
1. What is the monthly cost of ArcGIS Online?
Pricing of ArcGIS Online is based on number of users, and their user types, based on what kinds of capabilities they need. Here is a link to our website that covers all of this in more detail. Beyond that, please contact your Esri account representative, or you can feel free to contact me (Jim Barry, jbarry@esri.com) or Erik (Henderson, ehenderson@esri.com), and we can put you in touch with someone who can help you.
2. Can I use the ArcGIS Railroads Data Model in Europe?
At this 2024 version of the ArcGIS Railroads Data Model, it is currently designed for use in North America. However, I do believe that while there are some significant differences in how railroads operate outside the US, there are also many similarities, to the point where you may still find the data model useful. If you are outside North America and make use of it, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you and getting your feedback about how it can be improved.
3A. What if I need help getting setup, are there any resources out there that can help us get going?
3B. Question from an independent short line railroad. Where is the best place to start if we are new to GIS mapping. Looking to model our 400-mile system for our engineering and property department. Show railroad improvements, existing infrastructure, dates of improvements, link valuation maps, etc.
If you want to set things up yourself, you will find many self-help resources, such as tutorials. We also publish a "Learn ArcGIS" website with short lessons for putting ArcGIS to work. If you learn best in more formal classroom or online web based training, we have an "Esri Academy" that has those types of courses.
If instead, you would like to engage with experts who can understand your needs and work with you to get setup, Esri has a wide partner network who have experience with this, or you can use Esri Professional Services on a "time and materials" or "project" basis for getting you setup and running.
4. We LOVE our GIS system that Bartlett & West did for us!!! We started from scratch with them back in 2018.
That's great news! Bartlett & West, based in Topeka, Kansas, is a "Gold" Esri Partner with many years of success helping railroaders build and maintain a GIS system along with many, many other types of services. If anyone is interested in contacting them directly for more info, here is their contact info.
5. What other types of our personal data can we add?
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "personal data", but when it comes to understanding the spatial dimension of your business, the types of data that can be used in a GIS is almost limitless. It ranges from structured data in a wide variety of formats that can either be used directly or after conversion, or it can be unstructured and "big data" sources as well as data warehouses and data lakes. ArcGIS supports industry standard data formats and storage options and fits nicely in your larger IT infrastructure. And lastly, data security is always a primary concern, so ArcGIS contains a data security structure, or works with security architecture that you have already have.
6. I am using the Amtrak ArcGIS portal, and nothing comes up when searching layers under Living Atlas, however searching ArcGIS Online does work. Is there a way to filter whish data layers are more reputable/reliable than others as I choose which layers to add? Does the ArcGIS Online search show all the same layers as the Living Atlas search does?
ArcGIS Online users worldwide have the option of selecting some or all of their datasets, maps, and other items and share them openly on the internet. These datasets are searchable by all other ArcGIS Online users. When you find a dataset you would like to use, the item page for that dataset will typically include all of the relevant information you need for deciding whether or not the data fits your needs. Each item also includes information about its terms of use set by the owner of the data. It also provides a link for knowing who the data owner is and how to contact them for more information.
The ArcGIS Living Atlas is a carefully curated set of data, maps, and other items that have been selected by Esri. But the same is true for them, that each item has a full description, metadata about its creation, as well as its terms of use.
7A. How do you collect locations to display them in a Linear Reference system?
7B. Can you link documentation on how to implement LRS in AGOL?
For railroads, the best way to implement a linear referencing system (LRS) is with the ArcGIS Roads & Highways product. This product is actually an extension of ArcGIS Enterprise, and unfortunately does not yet work on ArcGIS Online. Here is a link to a video of a recent technical workshop that describes all of this in more detail.
8. Are the previous data retained when updates are made or is it replaced with the new data?
Either way; that's up to you. If you edit values in an existing record, also known as "updating", the old value goes away, replaced with the new one. However, it is possible to time-enable your dataset so that new information can be entered into a new record, also known as "adding", and adding a "from date" and "to date" values so that the dataset understands which date ranges each feature is valid for. In fact, this is fundamentally how LRS Event Layers based on a linear referencing system (LRS) work, in that, you typically don't delete any features, you only "retire" them based on date/time stamps, and it's these "from date" and "to date" values that time-enable the features in your dataset.
9. Why some of the rail networks are not visible in the FRA?
Very good question. That we do not know. Can you give us some examples of this, and we can see if we can figure out why? In the end though, that sounds like a question better answered by the FRA. Railinc* (part of the AAR) may also have a perspective on this. In theory, FRA are maintaining an up-to-date database of railroad track, nodes, junctions, switches, crossings, mileposts, and more, but it does seem that they rely quite heavily on the railroads themselve for reporting that information to the FRA, which may or may not be as up to date as you need.
10. The big players for railroad asset data are railroad/operator, State/local and Federal entities. Is there a vision that the federal published data be the authoritative source of data or will there always be the opportunity for third party entities publishing data (possibly authoritative) in living atlas?
The railroad datasets maintained and made available by the FRA are adequate for the purposes that they created it. The quality of timeliness of that data may not be adequate for all purposes. These datasets are often a good place to start, but when you're running a railroad, you will often find that you will want to improve the quality of that data over time.
I also believe there is market opportunity for commercial data vendors to create and sell even better quality data sources, and then make those available through the ArcGIS Marketplace.
There's a quote about "government open data" that I've always liked that I'll share with you, that I think applies here:
"Government open data belongs to you, but try not to forget that it wasn't created for you."
A good example of this is TIGER line files created and maintained by the US Census Bureau. It is a nationwide street mapping dataset that works perfectly well for the US Census Bureau, but you'll find that pretty much all cities and counties in the US have better, cleaner, more accurate, and higher quality street network datasets for their own jurisdictions. I believe there will always be that opportunity for commercial data vendors to maintain and market railroad data at degrees of completeness and accuracy exceeding that of those maintained by the federal government. Just like the rail network datasets created and maintained by each railroad of their tracks and assets will almost always be better data than is managed by the FRA.
WRAP UP
If you have any other questions not covered here, we can discuss them in the comments below.
*The ArcGIS Railroads Data Model is based on industry input and standards, including the RIGIS™ data model created by Railinc. RIGIS™ is a trademark of Railinc Corp.